Each week (give or take one or two here and there) I share three things I like – It could be a book, a movie, a podcast, an album, a photo, an article, a restaurant, a food item, a beverage, or anything else I simply enjoy and think you might too. You can find a whole pile of things, especially books, I like and recommend HERE.
1) Isaiah: God Saves Sinners by Ray Ortlund Jr.
It’s not often that a Bible commentary can rightly be called worshipful. They are more often explanatory, thorough, technical, and substantive in an informational way. Many of them serve to compare views or interpretations, allowing the reader to study deeply and widely. What Ray Ortlund has done in the Isaiah commentary from the Preaching the Word series is to synthesize all that technical information in the background and present the reader with a clear, sermonic interpretation of the text so that the message and meaning are forward. If you need a commentary for a seminary level OT exegesis class, this is not it (although Ortlund could definitely write that too). If you are a student of the Bible who has been puzzled or intimidated by the book of Isaiah then you need this. It is clear. It is rich. It moves the heart to worship and gives verbiage and direction to prayers. I have loved going through this slowly alongside . . .
2) ESV Scripture Journals
These journals are ideal for slow, deep study of a book of the Bible or for sermon note taking as your church walks through a book of the Bible (unless your church does the Martyn Lloyd-Jones or John Piper thing where they preach multiple sermons on each verse; then there just isn’t space). From a quality stand point they are sturdy enough to hold up to backpacks and travel. They are inexpensive, so it isn’t burdensome to buy them as you start a new study or series (or just get a whole set. One of my favorite features is that, along with the blank note-taking page that faces each page of Bible text, there are roomy margins for additional notes. They really are a wonderful resource. And if you are not an ESV user, the CSB has awesome Scripture Notebooks that offer the same features. I love them both.
3) Kevin Johnson on Hakeem Olajuwon
This is for all you old hoop heads out there, and as a lesson for you younger ones. Hakeem was one of the greatest defensive centers of all time, one of the greatest centers of all time period. Kevin Johnson was one of the filthiest, quickest, most explosive guards of the 90s. His career arc didn’t reach hall of fame heights, but his highlights and best games sure did. The Phoenix Suns and Houston Rockets were Western Conference heavy weights, and every matchup was appointment viewing. I loved KJ and those Suns teams for no reason other than A) they were awesome and B) they were not the Bulls. So a dunk like this one was tatooed on my mind from the moment I saw it live.
